The Politicization of Russian Orthodoxy: Actors and IdeasThis book analyzes the ideologies of politicized Orthodox Christianity in today Russia including fundamentalism, pan-Slavism, neo-Eurasianism, Orthodox communism and nationalism. Apart from textual analysis, the volume provides a description of the specific subculture of political Orthodoxy, i.e. its language, symbols, art, mass media, hangouts and dresscode. This study represents the first scholarly examination of these topics. Unlike other publications on the politicization of Orthodoxy, it is focused not on the political ambitions of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), but on political movements ideologically based on their own interpretations of the Orthodox doctrine, often contravening the canonical version. The book demonstrates that the "political Orthodox" or "Orthodox patriots" are a specific branch of believers who frequently do not practice Orthodoxy properly, inventing, instead, their own quasi-Orthodox rituals. The volume shows that the ROC is not responsible for such religious politicization and that the community of the political Orthodox is rather guided by religiously oriented lay intellectuals. The book provides a brief analysis of this intellectual community. Finally, the volume demonstrates that, even in the absence of significant electoral achievements, some religio-political Orthodox movements--namely, fundamentalists and nationalists--have been able to gain public support at the grassroots level. They have been able to infiltrate larger and more moderate political organizations thus contributing to a general "Orthodoxization" of Russian political discourse. |
Contents
Acknowledgements | 9 |
Introduction | 15 |
Between Ideology and Religion | 21 |
Copyright | |
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The Politicization of Russian Orthodoxy: Actors and Ideas Anastasia V Mitrofanova Limited preview - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
2005 picture taken academic Aleksandr Dugin Andrei become Belarus believers born Christian civil religion clergy Communist contemporary cultural doxy Dushenov elite ethnic Eurasian Eurasianist Evgenii Troitskii Evraziiskii Soiuz example extreme nationalist fundamentalists Gennadii global groups ideas ideology Islam ITNs Konstantin KPRF Krutov leader Leonid liberal Mezhdunarodnoe Evraziiskoe Dvizhenie Mikhail modern Moscow Moskva movement Muslims nationalist nationalist activist nationalist organizations NDPR Neo-Eurasianism Neo-Pagan Nevertheless Nikolai Nikolai Leonov obshchina official organization initiated Orthodox Communism Orthodox intellectuals Orthodox military-patriotic Orthodox nationalist Orthodox patriotic Orthodox political Pagan Pan-Slavism Pan-Slavist Panarin paramilitary Partiia Party political fundamentalism political fundamentalists political Ortho political Orthodoxy political religions politicization of Orthodoxy popular position Pravoslavnaia protests Putin radical Radonezh religiopolitical religious politicization rituals Rodina Rossii Russian Orthodox Church Russkaia Russkii vzgliad scholars Serbia Sergei Sergei Kara-Murza skinheads Slavic social Soiuz Pravoslavnykh Soviet spiritual subculture taken by Anastasia tion traditional intellectuals Union Vladimir web-site Zavtra